November 20, 2014

Industry confidence at six-month high

Washington, DC--The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the November 2014 ‘Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry’ (MCI-EFI), reporting that overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 64.2, an increase from the October index of 60.4 and the highest level since May.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Valerie Hayes Jester, president, Brandywine Capital Associates, said, “The mid-term elections are now over and consumer confidence seems to be improving as gas prices and unemployment statistics continue to decrease. We have experienced an increase in demand for capital equipment purchases and, more importantly, financing for those orders. Another important note is that the equipment being requisitioned appears to be associated with business expansion and not just replacement of older assets.”

November 2014 survey results:

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 27.3 per cent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 23 per cent in October.

30.3 per cent of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months, up from 25.7 per cent in October.

21.2 per cent of executives expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 11.4 per cent in October. 45.4 per cent of the executives reported they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, an increase from 40 per cent in October.